Lying Skies
! Thank you!!]] Summary THE STARS HAVE FALLEN. Milkyfluff, a loyal ShadowClan warrior, has noticed something strange with StarClan. Her friend, Shadesea, has gotten barely any dreams from StarClan, and when she has one, it's very erratic. Milkyfluff and Shadesea are worried about the clans. Without StarClan, they will fall. However, as the clans become more and more helpless, Milkyfluff's faith is endangered. Why do cats that don't believe in StarClan not go anywhere? Why does StarClan depend on the clans to remember them? Why does StarClan send omens and put the cats in danger? As the clans start to consider breaking away from StarClan, Milkyfluff is left hopeless, with only strange dreams that Shadesea tells her about to interpret. Can Milkyfluff save the clans? Or will the clans fall once and for all? |-|Allegiances= NOTE: Only the important ranks are here. ThunderClan Leader: Branchstar, a cinnamon she-cat with huge ears and green eyes. Deputy: Fallingbird, a silver tabby tom with a stubby tail and blue eyes. Medicine Cat: Hollypoke, a black tom with yellow eyes. WindClan Leader: Whirlstar, a blue tabby tom with green eyes. Deputy: Rainingwillow, a small red tabby she-cat with tufted ears, a fluffy tail, and green eyes. Medicine Cat: Cinnamontumble, a cinnamon-and-white tom with yellow eyes. RiverClan Leader: Screamstar, a huge lilac tom with pea-green eyes and a long tail. Deputy: Bitterfrost, a fluffy brownish gray tom with blue eyes and tabby stripes. Medicine Cat: Runningleaf, a small flame point she-cat with silver eyes and ripped ears. ShadowClan Leader: Soilstar, a tall brown she-cat with a sleek tail and blue eyes. Deputy: Needleroot, a small gray tom with "folded" ears and dark amber eyes. Medicine Cat: Shadesea, a dark gray tabby she-cat with amber eyes and tufted ears. |-|Prologue= The gray moon shone pale, bleak light on the territory of WindClan. All of the clan cats were sleeping, warm in their nests. In the darkness, a large cinnamon cat dashed across the clearing after a ghostly black cat with a fluffy neck and lifeless white eyes. "Scale! Please! What is going on with StarClan?" The cinnamon cat asked the black cat anxiously. His paws were shaking as he ran, and the moonlight flashed at his eyes, making him temporarily blinded while running, which wasn't a good thing. Scale ran faster. "Cinnamontumble, I haven't talked to StarClan in ages. I was banished from their land." His voice shook with anger as he leapt over thick tree roots and swerved away from prickly bushes. Cinnamontumble leapt at Scale and knocked him over. Scale fell in a bush, and his white eyes widened as thorns pricked his fur. Cinnamontumble pushed him out of the bush, and pinned him down. "Cinnamontumble, it's useless. I am walking in your dreams, but that doesn't mean I'm from StarClan. I was banished there a long time ago," Scale trembled. "I can't provide any useful information, since I forgot everything about StarClan, except that it's better than the Dark Forest." Cinnamontumble got off of him hesitantly. "Well, I've noticed something odd about StarClan. I haven't gotten a lot of dreams from them lately, and I don't know what's happening. When I go to the Moonpool, all I hear is cries of help. I'm determined to know what's going on." Scale shook his head, his ripped ears flopping around. "You need to learn that StarClan isn't the base of your clans. StarClan has shown anger, and they kicked me out, to be a wanderer in the skies, talking to you. I've tried to visit Runningleaf's dreams, but he's constantly ignoring me. You're my only friend now. Please, just stop asking." Cinnamontumble felt guilty. "I'm not trying to gouge answers out of you. I want to take you to StarClan and I want to see if they'll accept you." Scale growled. "Cinnamontumble, they will not accept me." His voice rose in anger, and his claws unsheathed, slashing Cinnamontumble's neck. Cinnamontumble yowled in pain and grabbed Scale, making sure to sink her claws into his fur. She felt her wound sting, and she winced as Scale tried to nip at her paws. "Stop!" A cat hissed. Cinnamontumble looked at the cat, and so did Scale. It was no normal cat. The cat had blue eyes, which glowed slightly red. They looked pale, and they had a face with two colors. Silver on the left, and black on the right. It had different colored fur on each side. Cinnamontumble hadn't seen a cat like this before, but her mother said they were rare. It had large paws too. Was this cat from the Dark Forest? "Stop fighting with a cat from StarClan. It won't help them." The cat snapped. "He's not from StarClan. He was banished from there. What do you mean by "it won't help them"?" Cinnamontumble snapped back. "Oh? Then where's he from?" The cat challenged. "He's just a ghost," Cinnamontumble said. "He's my friend, though." The cat looked at Cinnamontumble. "Mhm," he sighed. "We haven't been fading recently. Neither have StarClan cats. Also, the border between us has been fading, and we can see StarClan, but it's super super blurry." "So you're from the Dark Forest?" "Yes. I'm Twomask." "I'm Cinnamontumble. Why is the border fading?" "I don't know. Anyways, since your friend or whatever isn't StarClan, I'm going to go." "Wai—" Before Cinnamontumble could ask him to stay, Twomask vanished back into the Dark Forest. Cinnamontumble looked for Scale, but he had disappeared. Cinnamontumble ran around to look for him, but she tripped. She looked down, and saw the grass fading to nothing, and her vision was becoming blurry. She tried to rip a patch of grass from the ground, but it faded as if fire had destroyed it in her paws. "The border is fading? Whatever, maybe it just does that sometimes. Maybe the cats aren't fading since someone remembers them! It makes sense!" Cinnamontumble exhaled, right before she fell through the ground and splashed into a pool of darkness. |-|Chapter 1= Milkyfluff lay in the medicine cat den, trying to fight away the pain of the bee stings that she gave herself. She remembered seeing the beehive, and throwing objects at it; rocks, sticks, and eventually herself. She remembered breaking it off from the tree it settled on, and crushing it under her paws. Milkyfluff still could hear the ringing of the angry buzzing, and the pain of the stings numbed her veins. She could remember hearing yowling, and then feeling fur rubbing against hers. The bees had been silenced, and she was dragged away to the medicine cat den. Milkyfluff, when she woke up, had seen the looks of bewilderment on her friend's face. Did she think Milkyfluff had been attacked on accident? Did she think Milkyfluff wanted to go to StarClan and ask why their messages were so unhelpful? Did she think that Milkyfluff confused the hive for a partridge? Milkyfluff didn't know, but she hoped that Shadesea thought it was an accident. Milkyfluff knew it wasn't. I did it so I could see Shadesea. She's been too busy with her apprentice, and I needed to see her. If I had approached her, she would have told me to go away since she was busy or whatever. She heard pawsteps, and saw Shadesea with a few yellow flowers in her jaws. Milkyfluff could also see her apprentice carrying some other herb she couldn't recognize. "Milkyfluff, I need you to stay still while I apply this on. It's dandelion, and it won't hurt. Webpaw, ask her to roll in that wild garlic." Shadesea instructed, before dropping all the dandelion on the ground, and only picking one up. Webpaw bent down and lay some wild garlic on the ground. Milkyfluff inhaled some of the scent, and could smell ThunderClan scent from it. They must have got some from ThunderClan, Milkyfluff thought. She sighed, and then rolled in it until Shadesea told her to stop. Milkyfluff then saw Shadesea squeeze the dandelion, and something dripped onto her stings. It stung for a moment, and then Shadesea applied more liquid onto her stings. Milkyfluff did feel a bit relieved, but she had hunger pains. "Shadesea, could you get me some prey?" Milkyfluff asked hesitantly. "Oh, sure!" Shadesea replied. "It's newleaf, so there's a lot. No need to be hesitant." She then dashed out of the den. How could she tell? Milkyfluff asked herself. Maybe she just knows a lot since she's a medicine cat. Wait! That reminds me—I need to ask Shadesea about her dreams! I got stung on purpose for this. It would be dumb to forget what you wanted to do. Shadesea padded back in the den with a huge finch in her jaws. Milkyfluff's light blue eyes glittered in satisfaction, but Webpaw quickly snatched it, letting out a quiet "thank you". "You swine!" Shadesea cursed. She watched as Webpaw snuck into the corner of the den and started to feast. "Don't you have manners?" Webpaw stopped eating and looked at Shadesea. "Sorry. I'm just really hungry. I can't help it." Shadesea looked like she was about to explode; her claws were unsheathed, her amber eyes were blazing, and her muscles shook violently, as if she was going to jump to try to catch a cloud. "You could have just asked me! That was for Milkyfluff, not you!" Webpaw stuffed his head into his paws. Shadesea sighed in exasperation and stomped out of the den, probably for more prey. Webpaw seems annoying. That's probably why Shadesea is so busy. She's busy trying to keep herself sane. Milkyfluff saw Shadesea walk back in with a rabbit and a sparrow. "Can't believe we're wasting the prey right now," she muttered. Shadesea dropped the rabbit near Milkyfluff, and walked off into the corner with her sparrow. Milkyfluff licked her jaws and started to dig into the prey. "Shadesea, have you had any dreams lately?" Milkyfluff asked with a mouth full of rabbit. "Yes, I had one. However, it was just the standard unhelpful one," Shadesea responded. "Would you like to hear about it?" Milkyfluff nodded, accidentally biting a bone in the rabbit. Her eyes widened and her tooth was shocked, but she was alright. She kept eating as Shadesea explained. "It was dark and there were eyes everywhere in the sky. Then, they vanished, and the moon was getting larger and larger and fire was rising, and then I woke up." Shadesea sighed. "What?" Webpaw asked, not paying attention. Both of the she-cats told him that he didn't need to know. He yawned and lay his head in his paws after that. "Hmm. 'Eyes are stalking, the moon is fat, fire is rising and that is that' might be the message it's sending us," Milkyfluff joked. "The leader has to know about this!" Shadesea laughed, and Milkyfluff did too. "That's a prophecy I'd count as important!" Shadesea said, her sleek but fluffy tail flicking back and forth happily. Milkyfluff inhaled sharply as she felt her bee stings start to burn. She yelped and collasped, which only hurt more. Her orange ears flattened, and her blue eyes closed. The world flashed one more time in her eyes before she fell on the ground, her chin slamming into the ground and her head pulsing with pain. "Milkyfluff!" Webpaw yelped. He grabbed a few stalks of pink-green leaves and ran over to Milkyfluff. He chewed the leaves aggressively, but then gagged. He probably ate a leaf on accident, Milkyfluff thought. Webpaw then spat the leaves onto his paws, and applied them onto Milkyfluff's stings. "Webpaw! Be more careful!" Shadesea snapped, her tail lashing in irritance. Webpaw mewed back a quick "sorry!" and backed away. Milkyfluff felt tired, and her head was fuzzy. Webpaw needs to chill, she thought. Shadesea grabbed another herb and took a few leaves off it, and gave it to Milkyfluff. "This is thyme. It'll help you." Shadesea told her. Milkyfluff sniffed it, and Milkyfluff swore she could hear Shadesea herself eating some of it. However, before she could eat the leaves, a cat appeared in front of the den, looking unpleased. He was white, but he had dark brown splotches, long whiskers, and pale gold eyes. It was Speckledcedar, known for being a strong believer in StarClan. "Shadesea, I thought that a medicine cat wouldn't joke about prophecies," he growled. "Propecies are important, and could determine the fate of the clans. The destruction of the clans isn't something to joke about." His paws shook, and his eyes were flaming with golden fire. "Speckledcedar, were you watching us this entire time?" Shadesea asked, trembling. "If so, why?" Speckledcedar didn't answer her question. "If you continue, I'm going to tell Soilstar. We can't have a medicine cat who doesn't take her job seriously." Shadesea's tail swayed side to side. "If you continue to watch me for no reason, I'm going to tell Soilstar. We can't have a warrior who doesn't do his job and instead chooses to stalk every cat in the clan." Milkyfluff snorted, nearly exploding in laughter. However, Speckledcedar wasn't laughing. "Shadesea, just say sorry, and I'll go away. I just..." Speckledcedar trailed off, not knowing what to say next. "Okay, okay. Sorry for joking around about prophecies," Shadesea said, a hint of annoyance in her tone. "I won't do it again." Speckledcedar nodded. "Alright." He walked away, his tail flicking. Milkyfluff looked at him confusedly before taking a leaf of the thyme in front of her. "Hmm. I wonder why he's so overprotective over StarClan." Shadesea yawned. "Don't know." Milkyfluff chewed on two leaves and sighed. "Maybe he just grew up thinking StarClan was everything the clans ever needed." Shadesea shushed her. "He might still be listening." "Okay, sorry," Milkyfluff said, pawing at her herbs. Her head hurt, and her paws hurt as well. Her eyes started to close, and she rested her head in her paws. "Do you need poppy seeds?" Webpaw asked, nervousness tainting his voice. "Webpaw, herbs can't help everything," Shadesea said, stroking Webpaw's shoulders with her tail. "But neither can our warrior ancestors." Milkyfluff yawned and curled herself up on her nest. She dug her head in her paws, and her blue eyes closed, sending her off to sleep. |-|Chapter 2= Shadesea looked at Milkyfluff as she fell asleep. She needs rest to heal, she thought. I need rest to get away from the stress of my apprentice. "Are we low on anything?" Webpaw asked. "No," Shadesea responded. "We probably need more cobwebs though." "I can, um, get some if you want." Webpaw replied cautiously. "That would be great," Shadesea responded. "Go look by the Towering Tree for some. There's a lot of them there." As Webpaw raced off, Shadesea remembered the Towering Tree. It was the tallest pine tree in ShadowClan territory, and there was prey near there quite often. When the sun or moon shined, the tree would cast a long shadow over the camp. The tree was huge and spiky, and was the most noticable tree in ShadowClan's pine forest. "All cats that can navigate through darkness, please gather around the Meeting Branch for a clan meeting!" Soilstar's loud, strong voice echoed throughout camp. Shadesea walked out of her den and looked at the tall brown she-cat standing on top of the Meeting Branch, her sleek, long tail wrapped around the branch. Her blue eyes shined like blue rays of sunlight as she watched as cats gathered around. Shadesea heard loud meowing. She turned around, and saw a cream-colored cat with black spots on her face and paws with black stripes and dark orangish leopard markings. Charcoalleopard! Shadesea was too afraid to talk to her, since she was very haughty, and only allowed "high ranks" to speak to her. Based on personal experience, medicine cats were not high ranks in her eyes. She watched as Charcoalleopard shot an angry glance at her. Shadesea tried to ignore it as she walked away, but Shadesea sighed. She really does hate me. "Alright, everyone," Soilstar said. "I've gathered you all here for promotions, and some news." Shadesea could hear some faint "okay"s and "alright"s from the crowd. She watched as Soilstar called multiple names. "Goldpaw, Harepaw, Pinepaw, and Thornpaw, please come up here," Soilstar requested. She flicked her long tail at the tree so the apprentices could climb it. Shadesea held her breath as the apprentices climbed the tree. She carefully eyed Soilstar as her paws gripped the branch like a piece of prey. She saw Pinepaw, a completely black she-cat with the darkest brown eyes Shadesea had ever seen, nearly slip as she gripped the tree with her hooked claws. She heard a few gasps from the crowd. Soilstar supervised Pinepaw climb the tree and leap onto the Meeting Branch, the fluffy tip of her tail twitching in pride. "Goldpaw," Soilstar called, her voice stern. "I, Soilstar, leader of ShadowClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn." Shadesea felt her heart sink. Our warrior ancestors don't seem to exist right now. "Goldpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Goldpaw nodded, his golden tabby pelt shining. "I do." "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Goldenpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Goldenpounce. StarClan honors your intelligence and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ShadowClan." "Goldenpounce! Goldenpounce!" The crowd cheered. Goldenpaw's—now Goldenpounce's—mentor, Bristlebrush, cheered loudly, excitedment painted in her voice. Soilstar made the other apprentices warriors, their new names being Harecharm, for his charming nature and kindness, Pinesilk, for her sweetness, and Thornflash, for his quick moves and skill in battle. Shadesea's mind was too blurry to cheer for the apprentices. Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon) Category:Content (SkyFireStone) Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Mature Content